Dawson was smart NOT to fight Diaconu!

Diaconu was a average fighter. Easy to see. THe only one saying Dawson was ducking Diaconu was that Paul poster. 26-0 with only 15 knockouts. Meh.

 

And yet Dawson would do well to pick up this WBC belt from Pascal, due to the size of the event that Pascal helped to attract vs Diaconu.

Don't be surprised if Dawson is willing to go to Canada, don't be surprised if he demands a shot at his old belt.

Diaconu is a good fighter ruined - IMO - by injury, inactivity and a slow career. The fight brought little gain for Dawson. Diaconu was good in defeat; Pascal beat a top 10 light heavy and earned the right to be a star in Canada. Don't be surprised if US cameras will be over there regularly.

 

Dawson vs Pascal is defintiely a very interesting matchup

The best fight to be made at 175 right now

 

Oh Yeah! Real Smart! :nut

He could have had an exciting win over 'The Shark' (god forbid a KO), and Pascal would never have fought him, but instead he decided he'd rather have two snoozers against Tarver? :huh

Genius. :good

 

I don't suppose the "smarts" for this decision were driven at all by HBO interest in the Tarver fights? He took a more recognizable name over a lesser one, just as he's doing in taking Johnson over Cloud. Sometimes it works out in the long run, sometimes it doesn't. But it's the short run ($$) that drives the decision.

 

Diaconu had obvious weaknesses, only the Romanian fanboys couldn't see that.

 

and he has obviousl qualities also. puts on excellent pressure, but like mormeck doesn't quite have the gas to stay with it

 

Agreed! I also think that Dawson would win a fairly wide decision in a competitive fight.

 

The fight that Dawson swerved was after he fought Johnson, so no question of that not happening.

Because Dawson dropped his title rather than fight Diaconu he then had nowhere to go other than Tarver, so was forced to agree to the bull**** rematch clause against Tarver. If Dawson had defended his title, he would have then held all the cards in negotiations with Tarver for what would have then been a unification match, Tarver would have been the one with limited other options, so there would have been no need to agree to the mandatory rematch clause. So the fight you're looking for that wouldn't have happened would be the pointless rematch against Tarver.

Dawson would have got a decent amount of credit for going to Romania and taking on Diaconu and I think it would have been very good for him in terms of career development (experience of fighting in front of a hostile crowd and out of his comfort zone). He would be unified IBF and WBC world champion which would give him a higher profile and a better negotiating position for attracting future opponents.

Swerving Diaconu was not a good career move.

 

Lmfao @ some posters saying Dawson was scared to fight a fighter that clearly lost last night. The onlything good about Diaconu is he can take a hard shot and have a good punch. But it's funny as hell that some here in esb that i read for months and months saying Dawson was scared to fight Diaconu lol. Man i bet even Tarver right now or 40 year old Glen Johnson would have easily beat Diaconu.

 

It was a smart move cause Diaconu is a high risk to fight in romania cause even if lets say Dawson easily beat Diaconu but don't get the decision? See what i'm getting at? And Diaconu who just prove last night that he's just a good ok fighter is pointless for Dawson to face. Fighting Tarver who is a way bigger well known name is smart and now facing Johnson in the rematch is also smart and the right one cause the first fight was very close.

 

No, No, No... remember Diaconu was supposed to be this HUGE power punching unstoppable force, then the Henry fight happened, and he should have lost that one, and looked like ****, and Chris Henry is B-level at BEST.. and then it was excuses about illness or whatnot..

It was Decebel and that other cat who were on the Shark-train.. talked him up as this Julian Jackson-esque puncher.. with 15 ko's in 26 fights.

Ha.

 

Beating Tarver was a much better career move for Dawson. Tarver was a top 5 ranked fighter with a high profile name while Diaconu wasn't. And, if I remember right, Showtime was onboard for Tarver but not Diaconu. Throw in the bigger payday from Tarver and it seems like that was the better move.

The Tarver rematch was pointless but it was the first of two HBO fights for Dawson. If he would have fought Diaconu instead of Tarver does he get a two fight deal from HBO? I don't think so personally. Beating Tarver gave him recognition, something a Diaconu fight wouldn't have done.

Put all the title and mandatories stuff aside. Dawson hasn't hid behind his belts. He has twice dropped his title and not faced his mandatory in order to take a tougher fight. Tarver was a better than Diaconu and Johnson is better than Cloud. I respect Dawson for that.

 

Dawson KO 6 Diaconu.